A Response to the American Prospect By Luke W. Goodrich On June 18, the American Prospect published an article about the Becket Fund and its role in the Hobby Lobby litigation. Much of the article is fair and balanced. But one of its core claims—that the Becket Fund has been drifting from its founding principles—misses…
For years, the Township of Wayne, New Jersey blocked the Albanian Associated Fund (AAF), a Muslim congregation, from building a mosque. The congregation’s efforts were opposed by a so-called “Property Protection Group” in the community, who labeled the mosque a “public nuisance.” Instead of protecting the First Amendment rights of the congregation, Wayne Township suddenly decided…
Congregation Kol Shofar is a Conservative Jewish synagogue in Tiburon, California, just north of San Francisco. In 2006, the Tiburon Planning Commission denied the synagogue’s plan to make much-needed improvements to its existing sanctuary, despite the Congregation’s stated willingness to accept reasonable conditions. That’s when the synagogue turned to the Becket Fund. In a series…
Today, Kristina Arriaga, Executive Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, expressed the Becket Fund’s condolences to the victims of the murders at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin:
In the Pew Forum ‘s November 2011 report entitled “Lobbying for the Faithful: Religious Advocacy Groups in Washington D.C.,” the Becket Fund was praised as one of the top religious advocacy groups in Washington D.C. The Pew study described the Becket Fund as combining “elements of a think tank with a robust litigation program” that…
Becket Fund amicus brief steps in for religious freedom of New Mexico photographer forced to pay fines for exercising beliefs, argues that RFRA applies to private suits By: Asma Uddin Last week, the Becket Fund filed an amicus brief to aid the New Mexico Supreme Court in its review of the case of an Albuquerque…
An unconstitutional federal mandate In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a federal mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act. The mandate required employers to provide all FDA-approved contraceptives in their health insurance plans, including the week-after pill, free of cost. Despite the obvious religious liberty issues with a contraceptive mandate, HHS included…
After two years of opposition, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is finally open to use its newly built mosque for prayer, thanks to a lawsuit filed by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in July. The federal court ruled in favor of the Becket Fund’s request that all houses of worship be treated equal, including…
Today President Obama announced his intent to nominate Rabbi David Nathan Saperstein to the position of Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a position within the U.S. State Department.The Becket Fund congratulates Rabbi Saperstein on his pending nomination. In his role as Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Rabbi Saperstein has…
By Asma Uddin, Legal Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Last week, Turkey lifted its ban on the Muslim headscarf for girls in middle and high school. While girls in primary school are still not permitted to wear headscarves, they have the choice to do so starting in fifth grade (this is also…
Prof. Eugene Volokh filed an amicus brief on behalf of The Becket Fund and Christian Legal Society in AID v. AOSI today. In our brief, we argue that it is not “consistent with the First Amendment for the government to condition the receipt of a grant on the recipient’s agreement to make an affirmative policy…
Related to previous Oklahoma Blaine cases: Jenks v. Spry & Oliver v. Hofmeister Stephanie and Russell Spry’s disabled son will be able to get the best education from a school specially designed for his needs. After a five-year battle with school bureaucrats from a handful of public schools, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the…
Rosario Guzzi is a prison inmate in Massachusetts who requested kosher meals based upon his “Orthodox Catholic” beliefs. The state denied his request and when he sued, the federal district court upheld the denial based on the judge’s declaration that the tenets of Catholicism do not require believers to keep kosher. Representing himself, Guzzi appealed…
Expanding educational opportunities for Nevada students Like any other state, Nevada seeks to provide quality education to students of all incomes. So in 2015, the state of Nevada established the Education Savings Account (ESA) program, which allocates money into a specified bank account for each child that, similar to a medical flexible spending account, parents…
Rush Limbaugh, June 6, 2012, They discuss the HHS contraception mandate and the Becket Fund’s legal challenges against it… Listen to the radio clip here
The Becket Fund’s new president, William Mumma, discusses key threats to religious liberty. by THOMAS L. McDONALD William Mumma– The Becket Fund They boast of working to protect the free expression of all faiths, “from Anglicans to Zoroastrians.” Established in 1994, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonprofit, public-interest legal and educational institute…
One News Now, June 6, 2014 Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, says Becket’s defense of the mosque was, in a way, a defense of all faiths.
Deseret News National Edition October 19, 2014 Fewer than a dozen attorneys work for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. But even with a small corps of lawyers, the firm is making its mark by seeking out and often winning cases that set law-changing precedents. They discussed their Supreme Court cases and why he is…
Fox News December 8, 2014 Daniel Blomberg, counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, discusses Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell, a case before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver involving the government’s effort to force an order of Catholic nuns to violate their religious conscience or pay massive IRS penalties,…
Washington Post, January 20, 2015 Eric Rassbach from the Becket Fund — the public interest law firm that on Tuesday won the Holt v. Hobbs prisoner rights case — was kind enough to pass along his thoughts on what the case means for religious liberty more generally:
April 29, 2016, Deseret News “What if it is possible for the government to acknowledge the existence of a God who is the source of our rights — and mean it — without doing so religiously?” the founder and president emeritus of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty writes in his new book.
April 29, 2016, EWTN News Nightly The Supreme Court rules in favor of free speech this week – we’re joined by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s Adele Keim to hear about the case.
Becket is a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths. Becket exists to vindicate a simple but frequently neglected principle: that because the religious impulse is natural to human beings, religious expression is natural to human culture. We advance that principle in three arenas—the courts of…
By: Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty The briefing is now complete in the same-sex marriage cases to be argued on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Supreme Court, and we have seen a number of responses to the amicus brief submitted by the Becket Fund. The Becket Fund does not…
Washington, D.C. – On November 9, 2013, Kristina Arriaga de Bulchoz, Executive Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, will be receiving one of the 2013 Awards for Outstanding Catholic Leadership from the Catholic Leadership Institute in an awards ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland. Developed in 2000, the Outstanding Catholic Leadership Award honors those who…
Today, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty was featured on both NPR and Fox News discussing our religious liberty fight against the unconstitutional HHS mandate. Becket Fund Attorney Mark Rienzi delivered a brilliant rebuttal to the opposition’s arguments on the Diane Rehm Show. You can listen to his interview here. Also, Hannah Smith, attorney with…
Fox News, April 1, 2013. Click here to see Becket Fund’s Kyle Duncan on Fox News Channel’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren to discuss the latest in the Hobby Lobby case.
Religion News Service August 25, 2014 Last spring, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty successfully defended Hobby Lobby against the Affordable Care Act’s “contraception mandate.” This fall, it will defend a Muslim prisoner wanting to maintain a beard (covered here on Corner blog) Read the full article here.
For twelve years, a church in downtown Lake Elsinore, California, congregated and ran a soup kitchen as a ministry to those in need. In 2000, the church agreed to buy property from a school that had formerly been used as a canned food store and recycling center. When the church applied for a Conditional Use…
“It is outrageous that these school districts are now suing parents simply for taking advantage of a scholarship opportunity that the state has now enacted twice,” said Eric N. Kniffin, legal counsel for the Becket Fund. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represents the defendants in the separate lawsuit in federal court.
By: Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Yesterday a broad coalition of civil rights and public policy groups, including the Becket Fund, the CATO Institute, and others joined together in an amicus brief to ask the Supreme Court to take up a case, Ilagan v. Ungacta, involving eminent domain abuse.…
RNS August 19, 2014 The prisoner’s defense team comes from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The Becket Fund was also the legal force behind this year’s landmark Hobby Lobby case. In this case, the Becket Fund contends that the prison’s policy runs afoul of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a…
Deseret News, August 26, 2014 For example, Holt v. Hobbs has marshalled the support of the two groups that June’s Hobby Lobby decision divided: The Becket Fund (which serves as part of Holt’s legal team) and the Obama administration… The government’s support of Holt’s request shouldn’t be surprising, however. An infographic of the case, provided by the Becket Fund, reports that…
“The Becket Fund is involved in this case because it’s not just about one little Lutheran school in suburban Detroit,” says Fund attorney Eric Rassbach. “It’s about the ability of people of all faiths to work out their relationship with God and one another without the government looking over their shoulder.”
Fox News with Shannon Bream Click here to see Legal Counsel Daniel Blomberg’s Fox News interview regarding FEMA’s discrimination toward houses of worship affected by Superstorm Sandy on March 31, 2013.
In 1998 Monsignor Edward Buelt was designated the first pastor of Our Lady of Loreto parish in the Archdiocese of Denver. The parish adapted a small separate building, intended for the rectory, for use as a chapel while preparations for building a permanent church across the street were ongoing. At the urging of a few…
In 2011, Indiana enacted a school choice program called the Choice Scholarship Program. The law help families of lesser means send their children to private schools of their choice and avoid failing public schools. But teachers’ unions are fighting a furious rearguard action against it, using 19th Century anti-Catholic laws (called Blaine Amendments) to argue…
In some parts of the world, leading a peaceful religious discussion may come at a frighteningly high cost. Pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah learned that Australia was one of those parts of the world after facing the threat of jail time for their involvement in seminars and publications about Islam from a Christian perspective.…
Schoolchildren and parents in Massachusetts sought government funding for parochial education by amending a provision of the Massachusetts Constitution — known as the”Anti-Aid Amendment — that bars any public financial support for private primary or secondary schools. They sought to amend this provision through a voters’ initiative, but the state Constitution explicitly prohibits initiatives to amend…
In 2011, Douglas County, Colorado created the Choice Scholarship Program to help low-income families send their children to a private school that best suits their child’s needs, some of which are religious schools. But in June 2011, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and several Colorado organizations and taxpayers sued to stop…
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, the final court of appeal within the European human rights system, has decided to hear a potentially groundbreaking appeal affecting the rights of religious groups in Europe to choose their own clergy. The Becket Fund had publicly urged the Grand Chamber to take up…
ABA Journal January 1, 2015 Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, believes there’s a “very serious constitutional issue” in this disparity. The fund plans to help defend McAllen. “There’s a lot of dispute about what the establishment clause means these days, but one thing it clearly means is that the…
New York Post, March 26, 2013 As the amicus brief for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty notes, legislatures are “more adept at balancing competing social interests, including religious liberty.” The Becket Fund brief takes no position on same-sex marriage. But it is interesting because it answers a question often asked: Why should anyone care about…
Christian Post, March 25, 2013 Aiding the effort to keep “under God” in the Pledge was The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented Defendant-Intervenors the Joyce family, whose children are students in the Acton-Boxborough School District. Eric Rassbach of The Becket Fund told The Christian Post that “disagreement does not mean discrimination.”
Baptist Press, April 23, 2013 Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty agrees. Rassbach co-wrote a Becket Fund amicus brief in favor of the Romeikes. He says the German law not only contradicts an American sense of religious liberty, “I don’t think it fits with the overall idea of human rights.”
The Miami Herald, May 18, 2013 The denials force him, as an Orthodox Jew, “to choose between his religious practice and adequate nutrition,’’ said Luke Goodrich, Deputy General Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The fund filed an appeal for Rich after a federal district court last year dismissed the suit, which now returns…
NBC News, September 8, 2013 The deputy counsel of the Washington, D.C.-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Rassbach described himself as a Presbyterian, and said he doesn’t remember saying the pledge in middle or high school. The Becket Fund has represented members of many other religious groups in the past, as well as atheists, he…
Roll Call, November 18, 2013 Adele Keim, legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said Hobby Lobby’s owners do not want to offer four drugs and devices in company health care plans: the emergency contraceptives Plan B and Ella and two types of intrauterine devices. The Becket Fund is representing the family businesses…
Washington Times, February 14, 2014 To make sure that liberty isn’t crushed, the lawyers at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty stepped in. As Attorney General of Alabama, I am proud to see our state, along with 20 other states, stand shoulder to shoulder with the Becket Fund in opposing the Department of Health and…
Deseret News, March 9, 2014 Hannah C. Smith is a member of the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board and Senior Counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that defends liberty for all faiths. The Becket Fund serves as counsel for Hobby Lobby.
Alexandria Times, March 21, 2014 I am executive director of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that defends the free expression of all religious traditions. The Becket Fund represents Hobby Lobby.
TIME, May 5, 2014 The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty called Monday’s ruling a “great victory” for religious freedom. “Prayers like these have been taking place in our nation’s legislatures for over 200 years,” said Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel at the Becket Fund, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Town of Greece case.…
Deseret News, May 29, 2014 “When the government said to them, you’re going to have to fund contraception, sterilization, in violation of your deeply held religious convictions, the monks at Belmont Abbey College knew that they just couldn’t do that,” attorney Hannah Smith from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty told NPR. “This is not…
The Christian Post June 24, 2014 Colorado Christian University is being represented by the Washington, D.C.-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is overseeing dozens of lawsuits against the HHS mandate. In a statement, Becket Fund senior counsel Eric Baxter called Blackburn’s decision “an important win for religious liberty.”
By Hannah Smith, Senior Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous victory for religious freedom in Holt v. Hobbs. It held that a federal civil rights statute requires prison officials to accommodate peaceful expressions of religious devotion, an issue arising from a dispute between…
By Lori Windham, Senior Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty The Atlantic just published a fascinating elegy for Alfred Smith. You may not recognize the name, but if you’ve seen a constitutional law textbook in the last twenty years—or spent more than a few minutes on the Becket Fund’s website—you’ve probably heard of…
By Diana Verm, Legal Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty On Monday, October 21st, Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, addressed the faculty of another school, Brigham Young University, an institution run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This occasion was a sign of a growing…
By: Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Last week, the self-styled “paper of record” finally took notice of a phenomenon we at the Becket Fund have been talking about (see Blog: Fear, Loathing, and Demographics) for a long time: the New York City government’s conflicts with its growing population…
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is pleased to announce that Harvard Law Professor, constitutional scholar, and Becket Fund Board of Directors member, Mary Ann Glendon, has been appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
AP August 22, 2014 “We will be studying the new rule with our clients, but if today’s announcement is just a different way for the government to hijack the health plans of religious ministries, it is unlikely to end the litigation,” said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The fund…
CNN, October 8, 2014 Holt is being defended in court by the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, the same nonprofit group that backed two Christian families in a separate high court challenge earlier this year. The Beckett Fund noted that groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Anti-Defamation League, along with Catholic bishops,…
FOX News, February 6, 2015 Jones and her family were represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Historic defenders of the Pledge like the Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization, and the American Legion also intervened in the case. “The message today is loud and clear: “God” is not a dirty word,” Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel for the Becket Fund for…
Philadelphia Inquirer, February 7, 2015 The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represented the Jones family and the Knights of Columbus in the case and was also involved in the Massachusetts case. The American Legion was also a party to the New Jersey lawsuit. Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel for the Becket Fund, called Bauman’s decision…
December 21, 2015, The Washington Times As the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty put it, “Just as the government doesn’t have to include a pacifist memorial next to every war memorial, it doesn’t have to include mockery of religion next to every creche or Christmas tree.” Since 2000, the Becket Fund has fought government capitulation…
April 12, 2016, Military.com “The Army’s decision is not legally binding … and may be withdrawn at any time,” said Eric Baxter, senior counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Fund for Religious Liberty. “In fact, the Army has already stated that the accommodations will be re-evaluated in approximately one year.”
GENERAL The Religious Freedom Index: American Perspectives on the First Amendment is produced by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Ryan Colby and Dr. Dee Allsop are the Principal Investigators of this project. As Principal Investigators, Ryan and Dee have responsibility for the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects, the conduct of…
Sindicatul “Păstorul cel bun” v. Romania: The Sindicatul case concerns a group of dissident priests of the Romanian Orthodox Church who sought to form a trade union against the wishes of their bishops. In an 11-6 ruling, the Grand Chamber held that the Romanian Orthodox Church’s right of religious autonomy trumped the right of dissident Romanian Orthodox…
The president was bragging to the crowd about the contraceptive mandate when he made his “Darn Tootin’!” comment. He might have thought it was a funny response, and it did get him some cheers. But the mandate is no laughing matter to Belmont Abbey, or to the millions of Americans whose religious convictions forbid them…
By Lori Windham, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty “In America, the tree of liberty has religious roots. Don’t believe you can sever those roots and have the tree of liberty survive.” Those words came from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, this year’s Canterbury Medalist. Sitting in the room Thursday night, I watched…
On Friday August 19th, The Becket Fund hosted the first of five Congressional briefings regarding the state of religious liberty in the United States. Over twenty-five Congressional staffers attended the panel discussion on the freedom of religious organizations and individuals to exercise their faith in public life. Luke Goodrich, Deputy National Litigation Director for The…
Becket Fund founder Seamus Hasson’s definitive book on religious liberty is now available for purchase in paperback. Heralded by many as “the best discussion of religious liberty” available, “The Right to Be Wrong” offers an invaluable–and easy to read–examination of the fundamental right of all people to maintain the right to be wrong. After 20…
WASHINGTON, DC ─ Becket Law co-sponsored rallies organized by the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” coalition to oppose the new mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences. The rallies…
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths. Becket exists to vindicate a simple but frequently neglected principle: that because the religious impulse is natural to human beings, religious expression is natural to human culture. We advance that…
by Maria Montserrat Alvarado, Director of Operations of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty “There are few more uplifting moments in life than realizing, that in some small way, you have truly made a difference.” – Dr. John M. Templeton Today we remember Dr. John M. Templeton Jr., former pediatric surgeon and president and chairman of the…
By Kyle Duncan, General Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty This is an important week in the Supreme Court for religious freedom. This Wednesday, the Justices will hear argument in Town of Greece v. Galloway. The case asks whether a municipal board unconstitutionally “establishes” an official religion merely by allowing volunteer chaplains from…
The Council relied on The Becket Fund’s letter in reversing the Planning Commission’s decision. Life Bible Church of Harrisburg, Oregon last week won zoning approval from the City Council of Harrisburg to build its new sanctuary on land formerly owned by a failed RV resort. The Council’s decision overturned an earlier Planning Commission ruling that…
“The trial court rulings in the Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College cases are frightening examples of judicial abdication that permit the expansion of executive power far beyond its constitutional limits.” — Ilya Shapiro 13 states and 9 key institutions filed briefs on Friday in support of the Becket Fund’s appeal to the D.C. Circuit…
Last night, a coward walked into services at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the oldest AME churches in the country, and murdered nine people gathered together to worship. The church’s pastor was among those killed. “Our prayers are with the people whose lives were stolen, with their families, and with their church,” said…
Revitalizing the spiritual home of the Church During the late 1840s, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints migrated to the American West to escape religious persecution in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and other states. Led by the Church’s second president, Brigham Young, these pioneers eventually settled in the Salt Lake Valley, where…
Pushing the envelope beyond the contraceptive mandate In 2011, the United States Department of Health and Human Services ordered employers to cover controversial contraceptives and abortifacients in their health care plans or face crippling fines. Immediately challenges were mounted by religious universities, Christian businesses and, most famously, by the Little Sisters of the Poor—an order…
A long-standing Jewish tradition Opened in 2012, Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam is an Orthodox Jewish girls’ school in Far Rockaway, New York City, that stands in a long tradition of Jewish schools founded to teach young women about their faith. The first Bais Yaakov school was founded in 1917 in Poland, to provide an alternative to secular education that did not support and educate young Jewish women on the history and traditions…
Houses of Worship are Essential The Catholic Diocese of Madison has been committed to preserving the health and safety of its community members throughout the coronavirus pandemic, voluntarily suspending public masses before it was mandated by the state and generally cooperating with the directives of the local and state health officials from the beginning. They…
At the Supreme Court, changes to the law are often slow and incremental. Sometimes these changes take place even when the Court decides not to take a case, as when one or more Justices write in a way that helps lower courts see the issues in a new light. This case, involving government grants for…
““The purpose of the ministerial exception is to protect the right of religious institutions to choose their religious leaders,” said Luke Goodrich, Deputy National Litigation Director for the Becket Fund.
WSJ columnist Bill McGurn highlights the Becket Fund’s vital work defending America’s religious diversity and religious expression on the public square.
“The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a powerhouse law firm based in Washington that tackles religious freedom issues, predicted in a statement that religious groups “will never pay for abortion drugs in violation of their religious beliefs.”” – Associated Press
By WILLIAM MCGURN In the church of Kathleen Sebelius, there is little room for dissent. “We are in a war,” the Health and Human Services Secretary declared to cheers at a recent NARAL Pro-Choice America fund-raiser. Give the lady her due: Her actions mostly match her words. Mrs. Sebelius’s militancy explains the shock her allies…
Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2013 The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public-interest law group representing several of the groups suing to block the requirement, said the final rule was “the same old, same old.” “This doesn’t solve the religious conscience problem because it still makes our non-profit clients the gatekeepers to abortion and provides…
New York Times, November 26, 2013 Kyle Duncan, a lawyer with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Hobby Lobby, said he was pleased that the justices had agreed to resolve the split among the federal appeals courts. “We hope the Supreme Court will vindicate the rights of family business owners,” he said.
Led by the non-sectarian Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Hosanna-Tabor’s defenders know that a decision against the church could have terrible consequences for freedom of conscience in America.
Tina Ramirez, Becket Fund Director of International and Government Relations, comments on religious persecution at a conference held at the Washington Times.
The Christian Post covered the Becket Fund’s Sixteenth Anniversary Canterbury Medal Dinner with a tribute to this year’s medalist, author Eric Metaxas. To read the complete story, click here.
Washington, D.C. – Becket Law will brief the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights as they examine recent legal developments concerning the intersection of non-discrimination principles with those of religious liberty. Becket Senior Counsel Lori Windham will address Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, a landmark victory for Becket last year, with the Supreme Court ruling 9-0 that religious organizations…
In essence FPS and the IRS are saying that having cake at employee birthday parties is more important than the First Amendment right to exercise one’s religion By: Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Tomorrow the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans will hear a major case concerning the…
“Yesterday, Becket received the sad news that Curt Winsor unexpectedly passed away. Even before Curt joined our board of directors in 2005, he was a faithful supporter to Becket. I know that many people will commend his many business accomplishments and generous philanthropic work. All of us at Becket thank him for his commitment to…
WASHINGTON, DC ─ Becket Law announced today that it will hold its eighteenth annual “Canterbury Medal Dinner” in New York on Thursday, May 16. The event will honor 2013 Canterbury Medalist Elder Dallin H. Oaks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for his lifelong contributions to advancing religious freedom. The event comes…
Washington, DC.- View video here. (Lori’s testimony begins at 1:00:00). Access Ms. Windham’s written testimony here. The US House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, will hold a full committee hearing, September 12, 2012, at 10:00 am to discuss: “The Obama Administration’s Abuse of Power.” Becket attorney, Lori Windham, will testify before the House Judiciary…
On June 7, 2012, Becket Fund Deputy General Counsel Eric Rassbach spoke at a conference at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. Rassbach was part of a panel of legal experts including law professors and former judges of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) who were there to discuss Sindicatul “Pastorul cel bun”…
Unless the entire act is struck down, the HHS cases move forward. Learn more here. In the next few weeks the Supreme Court will decide the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act. How does this impact the HHS lawsuits? The graphic above illustrates the three different scenarios. The Becket Fund for Religious…
Washington, D.C. – Today, major Catholic dioceses and charitable organizations across the country—including the University of Notre Dame—filed twelve separate lawsuits against the Obama administration’s abortion-drug mandate and dramatically widened the battle front against this unprecedented assault on religious freedom. Becket Law, who has led this fight by filing the first four lawsuits against the…
Washington, DC – Last night, Becket Law filed an Opposition to Motion to Dismiss, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, pushing back on the Administration’s request to dismiss Belmont Abbey College v. Sebelius, one of four legal challenges by Becket to the Administration’s HHS mandate. The Administration moved to dismiss the…
Washington, DC.-Becket said today that it has mailed a letter to approximately 300,000 churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques to challenge the quadrennial warning—by both the Internal Revenue Service and separation-of-church-and-state groups—that political speech from the pulpit could result in the loss of their tax-exempt status. “Every election year, well-funded groups that oppose true freedom of…
Yahoo! News July 7, 2014 “Anything that forces unwilling religious believers to be part of the system is not going to pass the test,” said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents many of the faith-affiliated nonprofits. Hobby Lobby Inc., winner of its Supreme Court case last month, also…
The Federalist, July 11, 2014 And after last week’s ruling in favor of the Green family’s religious liberty, it was a female lawyer for the Becket Fund, more than half of whose staff and whose executive director is female, who kicked off the all-female press conference. She said, “Women like Barbara Green and Elizabeth Hahn fought…
CNS News July 11, 2014 The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling has opened a door for religious non-profits that also oppose the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate and its resulting accommodation authorizing third-parties to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, says Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The ruling will strengthen the…
by Adèle Keim, Legal Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty To tax and destroy. The Washington Post is running a fascinating series of essays on whether to roll back two centuries of history and impose state and federal taxes on religious organizations. This is not a new debate; in 1970 the ACLU and…
“A good character is something you must make for yourself. It is the reward that comes from living good principles and manifesting a virtuous and honorable life.” Today we remember a dear friend of the Becket Fund and a staunch defender of religious liberty, L. Tom Perry, a member of the quorum of the Twelve…
by Adèle Keim, Legal Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty “Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community, how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” That sentence, uttered last month by a UCLA undergraduate evaluating a Jewish student-government candidate, has ignited a…
By Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty This week Prof. Eugene Volokh of UCLA Law School is serializing his recently published article in the Oklahoma Law Review regarding the use and application of religious law – especially Islamic law – in American courts. Prof. Volokh points out as the…
By Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty That’s what atheist activist and repeat litigant Dr. Michael Newdow thinks. He’s brought another lawsuit seeking to remove the word “God” from public life, this time from the national motto, “In God We Trust.”
By Luke Goodrich, Deputy General Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Do prisoners lose their religious freedom when they go to prison? No—says the Tenth Circuit, in a lucid and important ruling issued a few days ago.
By Daniel Blomberg, Legal Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Today’s oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Town of Greece v. Galloway revealed a stark choice between allowing government to include diverse religious views and forcing government to exclude all but one governmentally approved religious view. At issue was the centuries-old…
By Lori Windham, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty This week marks the start of the Supreme Court’s 2013 term. It also marks the return of the Christmas wars, that special time of year when we repeat our nation’s annual argument over the meaning of the First Amendment’s ban on “establishment of…
Mosques must be treated on the same terms as other houses of worship. By: Luke Goodrich, Deputy General Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty A Muslim congregation in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has now been freed from a discriminatory ruling that cast a cloud over the use of their new mosque. Last year, a local judge…
Earning money doesn’t suddenly give the government the right to extinguish your constitutional rights. By: Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty A surprising and public rift opened up last week between President Obama and his lawyers over whether profit-making businesses can pursue goals other than making money, including adhering to religious…
Becket Fund’s founder and president emeritus, Kevin. J. “Seamus” Hasson, will receive an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame’s, May 20th, for his distinguished leadership in religious liberty.
The Becket Fund’s founder, Seamus Hasson, was quoted today in the National Catholic Register’s article on the new HHS contraception coverage rule. Hasson foresaw the rule and its problematic implications in an op-ed published last week. His reaction to the rule, as quoted, is as follows: The HHS rule “contains a feeble religious exemption that…
The Blaze, September 5, 2014 “On June 28, 2011, Mr. Muhammad, representing himself, filed a lawsuit seeking the ability to wear a half-inch beard in accordance with his faith,” according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the conservative legal firm representing him. “Mr. Muhammad lost in federal trial court and in the Eighth Circuit Court…
The Hill December 9, 2014 The firm launched in 1994, distinguishing itself from other legal shops concerned with religion by representing plaintiffs of all faiths. The fund frequently touts its all-faith approach as a way to push back against critics who charge that the bulk of its time is spent defending conservative Christianity. In addition…
Los Angeles Times December 13, 2014 The Washington, D.C.-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty also has filed a brief asking the high court to vacate the decision by the appeals court. “Abercrombie should know that it can’t discriminate against people simply because they haven’t worn a sign that says, “Hey, I am religious,’” said Eric…
Chi Alpha fought back, eventually enlisting the legal aid of the Washington, DC-based group the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. In an official statement released Monday, Chi Alpha considered the reinstatement to be bittersweet given the nature of the compromise. “Unfortunately, CSU continues to ban religious leadership requirements and to treat religious student groups with…
Washington D.C. – Becket Law has filed a friend-of-the-court brief defending American Catholic bishops against an ACLU lawsuit now being considered in a federal appeals court in Boston. The brief was filed last Thursday on behalf of an interreligious coalition that includes leading Christian, Jewish, and Hindu groups. In 2009, The ACLU sued the United States…
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Becket Law, on behalf of the Knights of Columbus and several individual Knights, intervened to defend the Jesus war memorial statue near Whitefish, Montana, asking the U.S. District Court in Montana to vindicate the constitutional rights of Knights to honor soldiers who have given their lives for our country. “I have tried…
Washington, DC – Change is coming to public schools across the country, but teachers’ unions and other vested interests are fighting a furious rearguard action against it, and using 19th Century anti-Catholic laws to do it. That’s why Becket has just filed a friend-of-the-court brief combating the notoriously anti-religious legislation formed at keeping Catholics, Jews,…
Washington, DC – Today, Florida’s Ave Maria University joined the rising tide of Becket lawsuits against the Obama Administration’s attempt to force contraception, sterilization, and abortion drugs into virtually every health insurance policy in America. Jim Towey, Ave Maria’s President and former head of the Bush Administration’s Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives is determined…
Thirty years ago, a cloistered nun named Mother Angelica started a small television network in her monastery garage to spread the teachings of the Catholic Church. Today, the network she started is suing the federal government for the right to remain faithful to those teachings. Becket Law filed suit this morning on behalf of Eternal…
Becket Law applauds Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) for introducing a bill protecting the conscience of millions of individuals against the Obama Administration’s abortion-drug mandate. Unlike other pending bills that address conscience issues, Senator Rubio’s bill–The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012—is narrowly focused and establishes a firm religious exemption in the insurance requirements imposed by…
The following statement can be attributed to Kristina Arriaga, Executive Director at Becket. Many received with great hope the news that a ‘new chapter’ in US-Cuba relations is beginning. Becket hopes that the upcoming negotiations include robust protections for religious people who have suffered tremendous oppression, incarceration, torture and a 30-year ban on religious holidays—including…
Becket denounces in the strongest possible terms the criminal attack on Prof. Prabhjot Singh Saturday night in New York City. Prof. Singh, who is a practicing Sikh and wears a beard as well as a dastaar or turban, teaches international and public affairs at Columbia University. According to news reports, Singh was walking along 110th…
Washington, D.C. – Today on April 2, 2015 at 12:15 p.m. EST, Becket will be hosting a press conference call to discuss the implications of the Indiana’s “fix” to its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Reporters can dial in to join the discussion. What: Press conference call to discuss implications of Indiana’s “fix” to RFRA…
Washington, D.C. – Today Becket hosted a press conference call to discuss the implications of the Indiana’s “fix” to its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The following statement can be attributed to Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel of Becket: The proposed “fix” to Indiana’s RFRA is unnecessary. Our country has had over 20 years of experience…
On Thursday Becket submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to a San Francisco federal district court in a case challenging certain church employee benefit plans as violating church-state separation. Becket’s brief argues that “church plans” are a constitutionally permissible accommodation of religion. The brief was prepared by Professor Eugene Volokh and UCLA School of Law students Nathaniel Barrett, Garry…
Washington, D.C. – Today Becket filed a lawsuit on behalf of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic liberal arts college founded by Benedictine monks, against the administration’s HHS mandate. Belmont Abbey College now faces hefty IRS fines unless it complies with the mandate’s requirement to provide its employees with contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs that violate its…
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier today, Becket filed a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, urging it to take up the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The brief was filed in response to the Government’s argument, which expressly asked the Court not to choose Little Sisters, an international order of Catholic nuns that…
Washington D.C. – Today, Becket and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) jointly filed a friend-of-the-court brief criticizing the State of Florida for refusing to provide a kosher diet to Jewish prisoners. Florida is the only large prison system in the country that still denies a kosher diet to Jews. “Prisoners surrender many of their physical rights…
In a brief to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals last night, the government announced, “they have determined to augment the regulatory accommodation process in light of the Wheaton College injunction and that they plan to issue interim final rules within a month.” Becket has led the charge against the unconstitutional HHS mandate winning a…
President William Armstrong was a vigorous defender of religious liberty. As a United States Senator he sponsored crucial legislation protecting the rights of religious organizations. As the President of Colorado Christian University he was among the first to challenge government efforts to force employers to provide healthcare plans that violated their religious convictions. As a…
Temple B’nai Sholom is a Reform Jewish synagogue with a long history in Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1876, it has occupied its present location since 1899. The Temple sanctuary has been designated a Historic Building, and was extensively renovated in the mid-1990s. In the 1970s, the Temple purchased two adjacent pieces of property in order…
Because Plymouth Brethren object to the use of modern technology in school curriculum, school district officials have traditionally allowed them to leave the classroom whenever the teacher would use a TV, VCR, CD players, and the like. As is standard procedure, when parents—for whatever reason, religious or not—object to a particular feature of the district…
The stakes could not be higher for European churches. Sindicatul v. Romania concerns a group of priests of the Romanian Orthodox Church who sought to form a trade union against the wishes of their ecclesiastical leaders. The Romanian courts and the Romanian government found that the establishment of such a “rogue” union would violate the church’s…
On March 14, 2002, U.S. District Court Judge Marvin H. Shoob approved a Consent Order under which the City of Forest Park, Georgia retreated completely from its earlier refusal to allow Refuge Temple Ministries to occupy and use a commercial property within its C-2 district. The city conceded that the zoning ordinance used to bar…
Daniel Negusie, an Eritrean Christian, was imprisoned in inhumane conditions for his refusal to serve in his country’s military. While in prison, he was punished and threatened with death for his conversion to Christianity. After two years of imprisonment, he was made a guard and threatened with more punishment if he did not carry out…
In a case challenging the constitutionality of a government school aid program as applied to parochial schools, the Supreme Court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which had found that the program violated the Establishment Clause. Justice Thomas’s plurality opinion (joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Kennedy) relied…
Missionaries of Charity is an organization founded by the late Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which now does sacrificial service in many countries, including the United States. In addition to founding an organization for nuns, Mother Teresa founded a corresponding male group Brothers of the Missionaries of Charity. In 1992, in the wake of riots…
The story of Lina Joy is a poignant illustration of what happens when the government rejects the notion that individual conviction and choice have a role in religious belief. Lina Joy was born into an ethnic Malay, Muslim family but was led by conscience to convert to Catholicism in 1990. In 1998, she was baptized…
Living Faith Ministries, a 6,000-member, 20-year-old New Jersey church, filed suit in federal court on February 15, 2005. Living Faith charges that Pennsauken Township, Camden County, and the Camden County Improvement Authority are violating the United States and New Jersey Constitutions and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by attempting to seize the…
“In France, the idea of “school uniform” has been turned into “school uniformity,” much to the detriment of religious minorities. On September 2, 2004, France’s loi sur laïcité (law on secularism) took effect, banning religious attire in all state schools. This law reads: Dans les écoles, les collèges et les lycées publics, le port de…
They just wanted to worship and till the earth. A simple beginning to a not so simple story. Hale O Kaula was a small congregation affiliated with the Fellowship of the Living Word that had been worshipping in the small Hawaiian community of Haiku since 1960. As they began to expand, they bought a new,…